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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. swing — in golf
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rule — a law
  5. roll — a list
  6. staff — employees
  7. staff — a stick
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. mine — for digging
  10. swing — music
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. capital — money
  14. bound — obliged
  15. swing — to play on
  16. capital — a city
  17. rule — government
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. roll — a cake
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. staff — employees
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bound — certain

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com